Mac Mini (2024): specifications, release date, price, features

It’s Shark Week and then there’s Mac Week. It’s a little less exciting, but yesterday Apple announced the new iMac for the first time, and today we’re introducing the new Mac Mini. There’s a good chance we can expect a new MacBook Pro to arrive tomorrow, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The Mac Mini is Apple’s tiniest desktop computer, and its design has been updated for the first time in decades. Apple updated this machine in early 2023 with the M2 chipset, but the latest model features an all-new M4 Pro processor that debuts today. The M4 line offers improvements in power efficiency and speed, and like its predecessor, it can take advantage of the new Apple Intelligence technology introduced this week in macOS Sequoia 15.1.

Apple’s smallest desktop starts at $599 and is available for pre-order now. Shipments will begin on November 8th.

Photo: Courtesy of Apple.

Small but mightier than ever

Okay, remember when Apple said the Apple Watch Series 10 had a completely new design, but it still looked almost identical to every other Apple Watch? Yes, small changes have made the Series 10 more comfortable and enjoyable to wear, but new The design is a bit of a stretch. It’s kind of like a Mac Mini. It hasn’t undergone major changes since 2010, but things are changing now.

The already small desktop computer is now even less– size 5 x 5 inches. Although it has a smaller footprint, it is slightly taller and the base slopes downwards with vents for airflow. Essentially, it is still a metal cube.

Apple has finally added ports to the front to make them easier to access. Two USB-C ports support USB 3.0, and there is also a 3.5mm headphone jack. The M4-powered Mac Mini has three Thunderbolt 4 ports on the back, while the M4 Pro version has three Thunderbolt 5 USB-C ports (another first, Thunderbolt 5 is the latest standard, supporting data transfer speeds of up to 80 Gbps, and that’s only available on very few devices at the moment). Both models also have HDMI (for connecting an external display), an Ethernet connection (configurable up to 10GB), and a port for a power cable. Apple has completely abandoned USB-A ports in this model.

Unlike the iPhone, which arrives right on time every September, Apple’s desktop hardware can be a little more sporadic, and naturally that means the processors powering these machines aren’t arranged in chronological order. The last Mac Mini had an M2 chip, but this one doesn’t have an M3, it has an M4. There are two types to choose from: M4 or M4 Pro.